California Explorer

You will quickly find that “The Lost Coast” of California is a rather appropriate name, as it seems to be a place that time has nearly forgotten. The King Range, an imposing wall of mountains towering 4,000 feet above the black sand beaches, has helped keep this unusual environment private and lost from view. Over the next several days, you’ll spend your time backpacking along the shoreline past harbor seals and tide pools overflowing with starfish and crabs. You may even spot a surfer or two who has hiked to the surf in order to truly earn his or her waves for the day. You will learn all of the necessary backcountry living skills, including how to pack a backpack, Leave No Trace Principles, and using a map and compass. At night you’ll enjoy your backcountry dinner and sleep under the Pacific Coast stars, listening to the gentle waves.

The next day, you’ll plunge through the whitewater rapids of the American River! Your group will meet up with professional rafting guides who will instruct you on proper paddling techniques, swift-water safety, and also tell you some of the intriguing Gold Rush-era history that surrounds this river. The south fork of the American River never disappoints!

For the next several days, you’ll trek through the Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. Here you’ll get to learn and practice fundamental backcountry travel skills as you hike past granite domes, sprawling meadows, and twisting alpine streams. Although Yosemite is a frequently visited park, you and your group will reward yourselves with solitude by taking the path less traveled. Once you leave the trailhead behind, you’ll see virtually no one – the high alpine lakes, incredible vistas, and star scattered skies will be left just for you!

Following your time in Yosemite, you and your group will be treated to showers and laundry, before making your way back to the Pacific Coast. You’ll take advantage of the azure waters off the coast of Monterey Bay. Monterey Canyon, one of the largest underwater canyons in the world, lies at the center of the bay. This beautiful environment is home to an abundance of marine mammals, including sea otters, harbor seals, and bottlenose dolphins. It also lies on the migratory path of several species of whale. You will hit the water by sea kayak, where you’ll learn firsthand about the ecosystem of marine life and have the chance to spot some marine wildlife sightings yourself!

Next up you’re going to change the pace a little bit by hitting the waves at Half Moon Bay! With the guidance of professional instructors, you’ll hang-ten under the California sun. After your days of surfing are over, you’ll head back to San Francisco and gather around the table for the traditional, celebratory WA end-of-summer banquet. The WA banquet is an opportunity to enjoy each other’s company one last time before your morning departure – it’s truly a great closing event for our unforgettable California adventure.

The final day is one of goodbyes. You’ll exchange phone numbers and farewells before boarding your flight home. In light of all that you’ve experienced together, Walt Whitman’s famous words should now ring true: “Now I see the secret of making the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.”